Retainer panel and method of forming



Dec, 27, 1960 B. H. FORD RETAINER PANEL AND METHOD OF FORMING a a a 1 ai a Filed May 4, 1959 //'V V E N TOR ATTORNEYS United States PatentRETAINER PANEL AYD wm'rnon or FORMING Barton H. Ford, Omaha, Nehru,assignor, by mesne asarguments, of one-half to International PaperCompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York, and one-half to TheStanley Works, New Britain, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Why4, 1959, Ser. No. 810,963

1 Claim. (Cl. 160368) This invention relates to a retainer panel forfreight vehicles, and the like, providing a barrier to the flow ofmaterials, etc. The invention is particularly useful as a freightvehicle door closure and as a temporary type of closure or retainerpanel which may be employed to prevent the escape of granular materialfrom the vehicle.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 666,296, filed June 18, 1957, now abandoned.

An obect of the present invention is to provide a retainer panel and amethod of forming the same for use with railway cars and other freightvehicles as a means for preventing the escape of granular material fromthe car and providing a restraining surface against other objects suchas boxes, packages, etc. being shipped. Another object is to provide adoor closure or grain door and a method of forming the same whereby thedoor can be fabricated in an inexpensive manner and set up and employedwith a minimum of labor and effort. a A further object is to provide amethod and means for fabricating a grain door which lends itself tomachine operations so that the door can be completely fabricated at lowexpense while at the same time providing a door which may be installedreadily while exposing automatically the reinforcing steel straps fornailing the same to the door frame. A still further object is to providea grain door or retainer panel which may be fabricated in one or morepanels and shipped in a compact form which permits ready application toa door frame. Yet a further object is to provide a closure structure inwhich steel straps at the ends of the door are shielded during shipmentand up to the point of installation so that no iniury can occur to thosehandling the door, while at the same time upon application to a doorframe, the steel strap ends will be readily exposed for a nailingoperation.

A still further object is to provide a retainer panel in which metalstraps are anchored directly against the core of a corrugated board, theouter liner of the corrugated board locking the straps in embeddedrelation within the core. Other specific objects and advantages willappear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in connection with a grain door as anillustrative embodiment by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a perspective view of a closure applied to a railway door frame andembodying my invention; Fig. 2, a broken rear view in elevation of theclosure board; Fig. 3, a vertical sectional view, the section beingtaken as indicated at line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a greatly enlargedsection of the door board, the section being in dicated at line 44 ofFig. 2; and Fig. 5, a broken, transverse. sectional view of the board ordoor structure, the section being taken as indicated at line 5--5 ofFig. 2.

In the illustration given, A designates a railway car and B the doorframe. It will be understood that, in general practice, a storm door iscarried by the car on the outer side of the door frame. C designates adoor space provided by the frame B and which is to be closed by mytemporary closure or door D.

The grain door D comprises a board consisting of a corrugated core 10having an inner liner 11 bonded to the core by a glue layer 12. Theouter portion of the core 10 is provided with glue 13 which bonds theouter edge of the core to an outer paper liner 14. At spaced distancesbetween the outer liner 14 and the core 14 extend the metal straps 15which are provided with spaced nail openings 16, as shown best in Fig.5.

The board D is preferably provided with vertical score lines 17 near theside edges of the door so that the board can be folded backwardly toprovide side flaps 18, as illustrated best in Fig. 1. When the flaps 18are folded backwardly, the thin paper liner 14 tears away from thestraps 15, leaving the straps 15 in position against the door frame B sothat the operator can readily drive nails 19 through the straps toanchor the straps to the frame B.

It is important that the liner 14 tear readily away from the straps 15and also that it tear along true lines so as to form a clean breakbetween the flap and the straps and, to facilitate this operation, Iprefer to slit the end portions of the outer liner 14 at it the slitsterminating at a spaced distance 21 from the ends of the liner. Theslits 29 thus facilitate the tearing of the paper liner 14 while at thesame time the unslitted spaced marginal portion 21 serves to confine thepaper liner about the strap ends 15 to hold them in position duringshipment. If desired, the inner side of the straps may be provided witha layer of oil 22 near the ends of the straps where they engage thecorrugated core 1%. I have found, however, that by bringing the steelstraps 15 directly against the corrugated core 1%, separation of thecore from the strap ends 15 occurs very readily because of the veryshort area of contact. The spaced corrugations of the core 11? engagethe strap 15 over a minimum of area and thus there is little tendencyfor the core to stick to the strap when the flap 18 is folded back. Theapplication of a small amount of oil 22 eliminates any tendency of thestrap to adhere to the core.

The door D is provided with the usual bottom flap 23 and lies againstthe floor 24 of the car A so as to prevent the escape of granularmaterial below the body of the door. If desired, side battens 25 may beemployed and a foot or pry-board 26 and a headboard 27 may be used.

In the fabrication of the door, the liners 11 and 14 may be gumin'edand, with the straps 15 extending between the liner 14 and the core 10,bonded to the core in the arrangement shown best in Figs. 4 and 5.Alternatively, the core 10 may be provided with adhesive and the liners11 and 14, with the spaced straps 15 lying between liner 14 and the core10, brought into contact continuously with the traveling core 10 to formthe composite panel. However formed, the resulting composite door stripis then cut into sections to provide the doors D, and the doors D areslitted either in the original forming operation or in a subsequentoperation to provide the end slits 20. If desired, instead of employingslits 20 as shown, the same areas may be perforated so as to permitready tearing of the liner 14 about the straps 15 when the flaps 18 arefolded back during the nailing operation.

In the installation operation, the door D is placed in position, asillustrated in Fig. l, with the flap 23 formed by a long tudinal scoreline near the base of the door, resting against the floor 24. Theoperator then draws the flap 18 forwardly to expose the straps 15, asillustrated at the left-hand side of Fig. 1, and he can then nail thestraps to the door frame B. After both sides of the door D have beensecured to the frame B, the flaps 18 are then swung to a position overthe ends of straps and the side battens 25 nailed so as to confine theflaps 18 in place. It will be understood that wide-headed nails, staplesor other means may be employed to secure the side flaps 18 in position.

The foregoing door structure provides important new results andadvantages. During shipment, the paper liner 14 provides a protectivelayer about the metal straps 15 so that they cannot injure the workmanor catch upon objects during shipment, etc. When installed, however, thepaper liner 14 readily is released from about the straps 15 so that theyare exposed in flat position against the car door frame B and may bereadily nailed in place. In this operation, when the flap 18 is swungforwardly, the paper liner 14 tears evenly along the straight lines 20to release the straps and the straps remain in their original horizontalposition for the nailing step. The release is a ready release by reasonof the slits and also by reason of the direct contact of each strap witha minimum of area of the core, since the strap meets the core only atthe spaced bends of the core. As stated above, such release can berendered further effective, if desired, by a film of oil applied to thestrap portion adjacent the core 10.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, the metal strap 15, in theprocess of fabrication, is embedded within the core so that when theouter liner 14 is applied, the liner forms a smooth continuation overthe outer surface of the metal, thus giving a finished reinforcedcorrugated board which'is relatively smooth on both sides. It isimportant to note that in the process of fabrication as hereinbeforedescribed, the simultaneous feeding of the core 10, the straps 15, andthe liners 14, enable the straps to engage the core at a moment beforethe core is stiffened by the liners with the solidifying glue. Thus, thecore is free to move under contact with the straps and before thesetting ofthe glue and the core thus absorbs the straps to form theembedded structure shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Thus, in the finishedproduct, the strap 15 dies embedded within the core and the core, uponthe setting of the glue, is now rigidly locked between the liners 11 and14.

Under the alternate process described, in which the glue is applied tothe core, a similar result is achieved in that the core may retreatunder contact with the strap and before the glue sets to anchor thelinerabout the core, and with the result that the strap is fastened tothe core at spaced points by the glue and similarly the liners areanchored about the straps to the glue; however, since the core is freeat the instant when the metal strap bears against it, the recessing orembedding of the strap is accomplished as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

It will be seen that by the sequence of steps described above, the metalstrap becomes embedded within the flexing core before the core isrendered rigid, and not only does this permit the outer panel 14 to haveits outer surface aligned with the strap flush with the outer surface ofthe remaining portion of the panel, but also with the steel strap nowembedded and confined within the core, which has now become rigid, therigidified core serves as a means for locking the strap against verticalmovement. A further important advantage is that the liner can now bebonded directly to the core at the very edges of the strap. If the strapwere projected outwardly from the core without being embedded in thecore, the strap would hold an extended area of the liner on either sideof the strap in spaced relation to the core, giving thus an extendedarea of de-lamination or bond-void.

While I have shown the door D as formed in a single unitary body, itwill be understood that the door may be composed of several sectionswhich may be installed in overlapping relation.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have set forth a specificstructure in considerable detail forthe purpose of illustratingembodiments of the invention, it will be understood that such details ofstructure and procedure may be varied widely by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

A retainer panel adapted for use with freight vehicles, comprising acorrugated board having a corrugated core, said core being equipped witha plurality of elongated parallel flutes, a paper liner bonded to eachface of said core, and a plurality of spaced-apart, elongated metalstraps mounted between one of said liners and said core, each of saidstraps being embedded in said core and positioned in contacting relationwith the flutes of said core and having the length of each strapextending transversely of the length of said flutes, said board beingscored along the sides thereof parallel with the length of said flutesto provide side flaps adapted to be separated from said straps when theflaps are folded along said score lines.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,595,087 Leslie Apr. 29, 1952 2,738,006 Suess Mar. 13, 1956 2,794,761Williamson June 4, 1957 2,895,431 Ford July 21, 1959 2,915,116 Ford Dec.1, 1959 2,915,117 Ford Dec. 1, 1959 2,953,200 Ford et al. Sept. 20, 1960

